Sports such as surfing, snow boarding, skateboarding, and other related activities require the use of advanced balancing skills on a relatively unstable board. Additional skills, such as the ability to quickly move from a prone position (on one's stomach) to a standing position while surfing, must also be mastered. It is, however, difficult to practice these balance skills in the actual environment of the activity (i.e. surfing in the water) because the opportunities to practice are limited. For example, the majority of a surfer's time is spent in the prone position paddling through the water in order to obtain a good position just seaward of breaking waves, or in the surf zone. In order to catch a wave and stand up, a surfer must paddle with that wave into the surf zone. Only after successfully “catching a wave” does a surfer get the opportunity to practice the balancing skills of standing on the board and riding the wave. Whether the attempt to ride the wave is successful or not, the wave is gone and the surfer must again reposition him or herself seaward of the surf zone. This perpetual repositioning not only takes time, but is also physically demanding, and surfers, particularly novice surfers, quickly become exhausted. Thus, the natural environment of surfing does not readily allow surfers the luxury of repeatedly practicing the movements of actually balancing on a surfboard on a consistent enough basis to learn the skill. This same dilemma applies equally to other surf and surf-related activities.
Simulators that provide the stability and feel of a surfboard moving through the water, as if surfing, have been developed that allow a surfer to practice his or her balancing skills out of the water. For example, some of these prior art surfing simulators use external forces from motors, pumps, levers, and the like, to actively generate motion and tilting angles in a surfboard-like standing platform. In reality, however, the movement of a surfboard is largely governed by changes in positionings and pressures applied by the surfer while surfing. Prior art surfing simulators which generate board motion independent of, and not subject to, the rider's foot positioning and foot pressure do not effectively simulate the actual sensation of surfing, or develop a user's ability to control and manipulate the surfboard.
Non-mechanical balancing devices, such as the Indoboard™, have also been developed to allow one to practice balancing skills. Devices such as the Indoboard™, however, are limited in their movement and do not accurately reflect the motions that are dealt with in an actual surfing ride. As such, there is a need for a practical balance training device that, when ridden, effectively mimics the actual motions experienced by a rider of a surf or surf-related board.